A secondary school teacher has been found guilty of the murder and sexual abuse of a 13-month-old boy he and his partner were in the process of adopting, in a case that has reignited questions over missed warning signs by social services.
Jamie Varley, 37, head of Year 11 at South Shore Academy in Blackpool, faces a life sentence following the death of Preston Davey, who suffocated during sexual abuse on 27 July 2023. His partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, a sales manager for a finance company, was also convicted of causing or allowing Preston’s death, alongside charges of cruelty and sexual assault.
The pair, described by prosecutor Peter Wright KC as an “outwardly respectable, middle-class couple” living in an immaculate home in Blackpool, were found to have subjected Preston to what Wright called “a litany of psychological and sexual ill-treatment” during the near four-month period he lived with them. Wright told the court that rather than being given a loving home, Preston had been used as a “plaything” to satisfy Varley’s desires.
Following a trial lasting more than seven weeks at Preston Crown Court, jurors took 14 hours to convict Varley of murder, assault by penetration, sexual assault, causing grievous bodily harm and cruelty. He was also found guilty of 14 counts of making or taking an indecent image of a child and one count of sharing an indecent image. As the verdicts were read out, Varley put his hand to his mouth before collapsing and being sick in the dock. McGowan-Fazakerley stood motionless throughout.
Wright told the court Preston had been “left at [Varley’s] mercy and paid with his life.” On the day of his death, the toddler had been taken to Varley’s mother’s house, where he was photographed playing happily on her knee, and was described as being “in good health and uninjured” that morning. He later suffered two apparent episodes of respiratory distress, the first filmed on Varley’s phone, before his fatal collapse. He was driven to Blackpool Victoria Hospital once McGowan-Fazakerley returned home from work in Manchester, with Varley reportedly putting on a “theatrical show of hysterics,” collapsing and crying “I’m going to hell.” Preston was pronounced dead around 50 minutes later, despite the efforts of medical staff.
Varley initially claimed Preston had drowned in the bath after being left alone for a moment while he got changed. However, suspicions were raised because the child was not wet, and a post-mortem found no water in his lungs. Instead, examiners identified what was described as a “sinister pathology,” including acute upper airways obstruction, bruising to his throat, serious internal injuries, and more than 40 bruises and other injuries across his body. The court heard Varley may have sexually assaulted Preston twice on the day he died, causing him to suffocate and have a seizure, with evidence suggesting his breathing may have been obstructed on a previous occasion as well.
Preston had been taken to hospital on three previous occasions: with breathing difficulties on 25 May, with an unexplained rash and bruising on 30 June, and with a broken elbow caused by rough handling on 6 July, which formed the basis of the GBH charge. The court also heard that Varley had messaged McGowan-Fazakerley to say Preston had suffered a seizure on 15 June, while McGowan-Fazakerley was returning from a business trip and Varley was alone with the child.
Wright told the court the evidence pointed “unerringly to the conclusion that Preston had been sexually abused and killed.” He said Varley had initially directed feelings of frustration toward his partner through rough treatment of Preston, which escalated into sexual abuse, while McGowan-Fazakerley had been aware of the “glaringly obvious” risk Varley posed but chose to ignore it. The court heard the pair later jointly participated in an assault on 23 July, during which Preston was positioned standing with his arms draped over the bars of his cot while photographs were taken. Wright said each man had acted either as “abuser or encourager,” posing a danger that was “immediate and blindingly obvious.” Varley was also found to have taken naked photographs of Preston, including images of the two of them together in the bath, as well as photographs of the child’s injuries, which the prosecution described as “trophies.”
In his defence, Varley claimed Preston had choked on vomit caused by a cows’ milk allergy, that the bruising to his throat could have resulted from surgical tubing used during resuscitation, and that Preston was a “clumsy” child who bruised easily. He said the naked photographs were “innocent” and taken because they were “funny,” and that he had filmed Preston during apparent seizures on medical advice, adding that he had not always taken the child to hospital because staff had told him this was only necessary if a seizure lasted more than five minutes. McGowan-Fazakerley argued he should not be held responsible because he was not at home during the alleged abuse, and that no one, including social workers and medical professionals, had raised concerns. He denied taking part in the 23 July assault, saying he had been downstairs cooking, with his defence arguing that the presence of his DNA at the scene was not conclusive evidence of involvement.
The case has also drawn renewed attention to Preston’s family background. It can now be reported that Preston was the son of Sarah Davey, now 42, who as a 14-year-old murdered 71-year-old grandmother Lily Lilley in Failsworth, Oldham, in 1998, alongside her friend Lisa Healey, then 15, in a crime a judge described as “unspeakably wicked.” The pair had befriended Ms Lilley before torturing and killing her, then disposing of her body in the Rochdale Canal and using her phone and pension money afterwards. Davey was first released from prison in 2013 but has been returned to custody multiple times for breaching her release conditions. Preston was born in June 2022 while Davey was in prison and was removed from her care by social services five days later, before being placed with foster parents.
Preston’s grandmother, Debbie Davey, 66, who is raising Sarah Davey’s other child, had wanted to formally adopt Preston but withdrew from the process while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Following the verdicts, she called for social workers involved in the case to be sacked, saying: “Everyone involved with Preston is still working. That is not right.” Oldham Council said no staff had been disciplined or dismissed following Preston’s death, but confirmed an independent child safeguarding practice review was underway and would report in due course.
Mr Justice Mark Turner adjourned sentencing until Thursday.
If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, support is available through the NSPCC helpline.
